Julia Lang expected a nice night away from the office–free of thoughts about the case, her failed engagement, her past. But she should have known better. Her past haunted her every chance it got these days, and tonight it came in the form of lyrics she never expected to hear again–not after a decade, not in the arms of another man and definitely not in the form of a confession. Now, Julia must discover for herself if the song–and more importantly, the man behind it–is enough to leave her new life for her small-town, Missouri roots and a second chance at love.

Excuse me as I try to reign in my emotions and stop crying! I had heard that Butterfly Weeds was an emotional read that might require the use of several tissues. As the end approached, I was proud of myself that I had only leaked tears a couple of times. And then, the epilogue came, and I lost it! To be honest, even now thinking back to it is making my eyes well up again. Such a sweet and beautiful 4 star story!

Perfect love was that kind of love that made no sense but made everything else make sense somehow. It was raw and unscripted, turbulent and slightly unpredictable. I remembered how it had made me feel. I remembered that at the same time that I had had perfect love. I had also had a belief in happily ever after.

Julia and Will have known one another since they were just kids. Once they become teenagers, Will begins to intensely pursue Julia. When Julia finally agrees, their love story starts. They fall madly in love, but Julia has dreams and aspirations that eventually carry her out of their small town, leaving Will behind. Soon after leaving, she just isn’t sure how to make their relationship work. So, the next decade, they spend their lives apart but never fully leaving one another. Their paths keep crossing, keeping the feelings alive. For Will, his feelings never dimmed or faltered. As for Julia, her feelings get clouded by the pursuit of her career and she seems to become convinced that this is more important than anything else.

“I believe that there is a perfect someone for everyone, and I know that you still believe that too. There is a perfect someone, even if the road to that someone isn’t at all perfect.”

I truly did like and connect with Julia, but she also made me so mad, especially when it came to Will. I just couldn’t understand some of her decisions. Will was absolute perfection. He was so in love with Julia and made it known.

Along the way, Will became a musician. It was through his beautiful songs that I couldn’t contain my emotions. He wrote a couple of songs for Julia that were so touching. I am still baffled at how she didn’t just melt because I for sure did. His love for Julia was so clear and her constant indecisiveness hurt him so deeply. I connected so much with Will that I literally felt his pain at her very many wrong decisions. I just wanted to shake her and make her see the light. It was almost like she was afraid that she would lose herself if she gave all of heart to someone.

“See, I’m in love with the person you can never outrun. I’m in love with you, Julia.”

I loved so much about Butterfly Weeds. The story was so real and the characters were so relatable and most importantly, it had a very happy ending! I did have a little bit of a problem keeping up with the timing of the events. As the chapters changed, different amounts of time had passed and it would sometimes take me a while to figure out exactly how much time had passed at that point. Still, I completely loved Butterfly Weeds. It was such an emotional, lovely story that I definitely recommend! I can’t wait for My Butterfly, Will’s story. Clearly I loved him to pieces, so, of course, I will have to read his story :)

Here’s the book trailer for My Butterfly, due out this summer!

About the Author

My name is Lindsay Brady. I currently juggle being a wife, a mother, and a middle school teacher. My daughter is almost three and is ALL girl. She keeps me very busy!!! When I was younger, you could find me either reading or writing books. My parents thought that I would end up becoming a writer and have somehow not given up on that dream even though I never pursued it. In reality, I abruptly stopped reading when I changed to a private school in the fifth grade and was forced to read books that didn't even slightly interest me. About a year ago, I was needing something to help me slow down and provide an escape from my busy schedule. That is when I got the itch to read again. And once I started, I have not been able to stop. I think I am making up for lost time :) I particularly like contemporary, adult, and young adult romance novels. There are so many great books that have kept me busy lately and so many that I am looking forward to!